Authorities clear 4 Mautes of links to terror group
July 3, 2017 | 7:37am
A police officer holds a poster of wanted militants known as "Maute " group at a checkpoint set up at the entrance to Iligan City on Saturday, May 27, 2017 in Mindanao. Iligan city is one of the safe havens for the tens of thousands of Marawi residents who have fled their city following the rampage by Muslim militants. AP/Bullit Marquez, file
MAGUINDANAO, Philippines — Authorities have cleared four residents surnamed Maute held last week of any connection with the Dawlah Islamiya.
The local government of Marogong in Lanao del Sur announced on Monday that Alimatar, Apok, Saida and Mohammad Ali, had all been cleared of any connection to siblings Omar and Abdullah Maute, founders of the Dawlah Islamiya, also known as the Maute terror group.
All of them are back in Marogong town after a day of extensive background inquiry by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
They were intercepted last week by soldiers and police at a checkpoint in Barangay Macaguiling in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao while en route to Marogong after applying for clearances from the office of the National Bureau of Investigation in nearby Cotabato City.
The four of them, along with three other relatives, underwent questioning by CIDG-ARMM personnel and have since been cleared of any terror links.
The verification process was assisted by local officials, military and police units in Lanao del Sur.
In an official statement Monday, the Marogong LGU said its residents with Maute surnames have different bloodlines from that of the Maute clan from Butig.
The four Mautes from Marogong secured NBI clearances in Cotabato City as directed by their LGU to ensure that they have government documents attesting that they do not have derogatory records.
One of them, Alimatar, was a former chairman of Barangay Puracan in Marogong and had even served as president of the town’s Association of Barangay Captains that entitled him to a seat on the municipal council.
Alimatar is now treasurer of the Puracan barangay government. Apok, on the other hand, is a retired principal of the Marogong Central Elementary School.
The Marogong LGU said all four of them, in fact, sought permission from the Army’s 6th Infantry Battalion in Malabang town, also in Lanao del Sur, before proceeding to Cotabato City to apply for clearances at the NBI’s office there.
“The issue had been resolved,” the Marogong LGU said in its official statement distributed to various media outfits.
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